Writers Write: My Favourite Book 32
Tim Pegler As my childhood memories become foggier and less reliable, there are several book moments that stand out from the murk. The moment I discovered Herge’s The Red Sea Sharks (a graphic novel in a small rural library!) was like tripping over a gold nugget. The thrall induced...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 31
Jenny Blackford Hidden somewhere in one of the cupboards, I have a small cross-stitched sampler hand-embroidered (and designed) by a friend when we were both 14 or so. It’s in Elvish. I also own the Donald Swann record of the poems and songs of Middle-Earth, which includes J.R.R...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 30
Claire Corbett The book that haunted my childhood was Elidor by British writer Alan Garner. An icy, grief-stricken story overshadowed by the twilight feel of Celtic myth, it was a short sharp shock after the cosiness of the Narnia tales I knew and loved. Elidor was the first book...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 29
Jack Heath I have adored so many novels that I regularly change my mind about which is my favourite. On some days I will tell you that it’s Scarecrow, by Matthew Reilly. On others it might be Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or Dan Well’s I Am Not A Serial Killer,...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 28
Michael Wagner Dibs in Search of Self, Virginia M Axline I can’t think of any higher praise for a book than to tell you that this one made me sick! Actually sick. But in a good way … sort of. I was so deeply moved by this true story...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 27
Sean Williams Like a lot of kids who grew up to become writers, I was a voracious reader from a very early age.* My parents loved books too, and I remember going through their shelves in search of something, anything to try next. They didn’t often deny my choices...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 26
George Ivanoff I used to be what is euphemistically termed a ‘reluctant reader’. My words at the time would have been more along the lines of “I hate reading! It’s boring!”. How’s that for a revelation? Not the sort of admission you’d expect from a children’s author. But it’s...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 25
Carole Wilkinson One of my favourite books as a child was the first book I can remember reading. It was a Rupert Annual. I didn’t grow up in a house full of books, but I often got a book for my birthday, and one for Christmas. The Christmas book...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 24
Marianne de Pierres The Secret Garden will forever be the most important book from my childhood. My sister was a little older, and on school holidays she used to take time to read to me. I can still remember sitting in my dad’s old green armchair in our family...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 23
Kate Forsyth When I heard year that Diana Wynne Jones had died, I grieved as deeply as if I had known her. Part of my sorrow came from the thought that there would be no more Diana Wynne Jones books … no more funny, wise, magical stories that never...